The international franchise forum of the restaurant and hotel industry – Franchithink gathered Ukrainian and international investors and franchisors on the territory of one of the largest exhibition centers in the capital. The editorial staff of the Ribas Hotels Group blog worked almost entirely at the event. We asked the forum's top speakers one of the most pressing questions:
How will the introduction of martial law in some regions of Ukraine affect business?
Alexander Musatov, co-owner of True Burger Bar and Hendrick's bar, author of training seminars on restaurant operational management, kitchen management, and personnel management. The developer of the System of standardization restaurants. Author of textbooks for restaurant employees, trainer-consultant in the field of HoReCa:
— Given the escalation of the conflict, we can talk about two views on this situation.
On the one hand, it is quite difficult to track an instant reaction.
Although, in fact, I see it and can already give a clear example. Recently, a large-scale event was held in Kiev.
Of the one hundred and twenty declared participants, only seventy arrived. That is, about fifty people decided to cancel the trip for various reasons.
At the time of the introduction of martial law, I held a seminar in Kherson. It was attended by about sixty people. As you know, the Kherson region is part of a zone that is subject to martial law. I can't say I saw panic or hysteria. Of course, people are confused, not quite sure what to expect. And I am not ready to make any forecasts, say how bad everything is, or Vice versa-say that this will benefit the Ukrainian economy.
We have experienced more than one force majeure: the crisis of the ninety-eighth year, 2004, 2008. We also survived 2014, when we launched True Burger Bar.
Wise Chinese say that a crisis is a time of opportunity. The main thing for us is that people do not die. My position is to go forward step by step and do my job well. I think this is the purpose of every Manager and the key to the successful functioning of the business in different periods.
Andrey Dligach, doctor of Economics, strategist, CEO of Advanter Group, founder of the Board community, Luniter Troubleshooting:
— I believe that there will be no special negative impact on the economy. Attracting foreign investment is about one billion dollars a year. It should be about ten. So it won't get any worse. Well, we will lose another hundred million investments. This will affect individual sectors, but not the economy as a whole. In principle, we already see that many projects are frozen.
The state, in theory, should use this situation to show investors who want to enter the country, including franchisees — that obligations are fulfilled, the hryvnia exchange rate is stable, in fact everything, including the economy is working, the budget is replenished. It is necessary to demonstrate this by translating the negative into a positive tone and actively engaging in the protection of property rights. In this case, the state could enter 2019-2020 with an excellent platform for growth.
I believe that Ukraine is doomed to active growth and dynamic development, and no military regulations can prevent this.
Miroslava Kozachuk, a leading specialist in the field of franchising in Ukraine and abroad, co-owner and CEO of the Franchise Group, author of the project "First school of franchising", partner in the development of the franchise network of the technical Studio "Inventor" and Robo Club:
— Not an easy question. What Ukraine has experienced over the past eight years, the experience that it has gained, will not allow business to get completely bogged down in problems. Ukrainian business has already become conscious and is constantly developing.
I suspect that everyone who was thinking of buying a franchise, kept the money in their pocket and right now do not dare to do it.
But those companies that are already developing franchising understand that a franchise is one of the advantages that the owner will not leave their business to fend for themselves and will be able to manage it all over the world.
In this case, franchising is just the tool that shows very clearly how cool it is to develop not only in your own country, but also in other countries. And at some point, this allows you to protect yourself, your employees, the company, and customers from difficult situations.
Anton Voronyuk, head of the Academy of Internet marketing WebPromoExperts:
— The current situation in the country is a consequence of the fact that it has been going on in the territory of the ATO for quite a long time. I am sure that Ukrainian business will adapt to these realities.
Janina Babutska, head of the consulting Department Franchise Group:
— Martial law does not mean that you need to stop all business procфesses and stop working. You need to think about how to reassure your company and scale it not only in Ukraine, but also abroad: open representative offices or franchise facilities in other territories. This will strengthen the brand itself, its capitalization, investment, and protect the business from unpleasant force majeure. You definitely can't stop.
Oksana Dolgova, BogushTime business coach, coach, instructor, psychologist:
— Our main audience is the owners of companies and heads of top divisions. Clearly, the military situation affects the business. Because we work with goal setting: to make people happy, create goals for themselves and their environment. Based on their values, an entrepreneur makes decisions: someone goes into politics, someone introduces innovations that they did not dare to do before, someone turns down the business, someone develops it even more intensively. That is, if its value is entirely in the business, then it will continue to develop its business. If a person has prioritized their family and children, they may think about going abroad. Everything depends on its internal positions, not on the situation in the country.
If you want to somehow influence what is happening around you, you need to start from yourself. Now, the way people behave, you can understand what they want and how they will act.
